


Spite is an awesome motivator

by Wino



Series: The Darcy fix no one asked for [23]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Clint Is a Good Bro, Darcy Lewis Is a Good Bro, F/F, Female Friendship, Fluff, Jane Foster is a Good Bro, Jarvis (Iron Man movies) is a Good Bro, Natasha needs good things, Sewing, awkward but cute, no beta we die like men, spite is an awesome motivator, the world needs more Black Widow merch
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-03
Updated: 2020-02-03
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:55:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22545889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wino/pseuds/Wino
Summary: It started out innocently enough.The reason? Spite. Who said spite wasn't a good enough motivator had no idea. No idea. But anyway, spite. Spite and indignation at the suspicious lack of merchandise, and then the sudden appearance of "Black Widow Clothing" lines. Clothes that were proper not at all, and catering to unsuspecting females even less.Darcy Lewis was sewing her own damn Black Widow pyjamas.OR: The fiction where Darcy tries to sew away from the male gaze, everybody is friends and living in the Tower, Jane is a good bro and Darcy might have atinycrush.
Relationships: Darcy Lewis/Natasha Romanov
Series: The Darcy fix no one asked for [23]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/703746
Comments: 52
Kudos: 260





	Spite is an awesome motivator

**Author's Note:**

  * For [einar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/einar/gifts).



> *whispers* I'm back? Maybe?
> 
> Welp, this is a birthday gift for my dearest @einar, so I hope they enjoy it, for being one of my most supportive friends! If you haven't checked their stories, check them out!
> 
> This is just something cute, to see if I still have it in me? Anyways, friendship day is coming up soon and I want to make sure I can still word properly.  
> Can I?
> 
> Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoy!  
>  **Please leave a comment and make my day?**

It started out innocently enough.

The reason? Spite. Who said spite wasn't a good enough motivator had no idea. No idea. But anyway, spite. Spite and indignation at the suspicious lack of merchandise, and then the sudden appearance of "Black Widow Clothing" lines. Clothes that were proper not at all, and catering to unsuspecting females even less.

Darcy Lewis was sewing her own damn Black Widow pyjamas.

* * *

If one were to look more closely to the story, they’d be disappointed to see where it had actually originated, which was in one of the hundreds of “Avengers Collectors ONLY!” Stores that had popped out from the sidewalk in the aftermath of New York.

After the Chitauri invasion, SHIELD’s coveted team of Superheroes (Earth’s Mightiest Heroes! or something like that) had been showered with praise and unprecedented rise to popularity, so fast that most of the bigger social media had crashed overnight. Sites had begun showing like mushrooms in a forest after a thunderstorm and, not to be beaten at their own games, the stores had adapted.

According to Steve, and there had to be some sort of truth in that, SHIELD had tried to shut everything up, but the witnesses were simply too many to ignore, and thus had been forced to give up. They were probably crying about it, Darcy thought with satisfaction, picturing Coulson’s and Fury’s sad faces.

However, while SHIELD cried bitter tears and the capitalists tried to milk the new golden goose for whatever it was worth, Darcy Lewis had not so secretly enjoyed using Stark funds to purchase every single toy, clothing item and gadget she could put her hands on and show it off at the tower.

Dr Banner would always get flattered about it, Steve would smile indulgently and then criticize mercilessly every single reference to ‘the American way’, which honestly, fair. Tony would also join in with Steve, but then he’d try to start the first bars of ‘The Star-Spangled Man with a Plan’, which would make the entire team sing, and then it would be a problem. Tone-deaf. _The lot of them_.

The only person who apparently enjoyed it more than the ‘boys’ was Barton, who not only had a very pleasant voice but was also always a good sport about temporarily terminating the Unholy Chorus with his “Hawkeye official Nerf Gun”. Unfortunately for everybody with ears, this usually meant the first… or three times the song went on unimpeded (unless Darcy enlisted JARVIS’s help: in that case, it was _war_ ).

This game of getting the new toy as soon as it was out turned out less fun, however, when Darcy started to notice a trend. While Steve, Tony, Bruce and Thor had an unending amount of variety to choose and peruse, and Clint had way less, Natasha had nothing. Only a couple of models and t-shirts had been made for the Black Widow, and no toy or gadget had ever even entered the stores. And while Natasha joked it was fine, because she wasn’t supposed to be a public figure and all that, Darcy was extremely disappointed.

So, when they finally announced a new Black Widow line of PJs and clothing for women, Darcy had been understandably excited.

But then she’d seen the actual line.

* * *

“The indignity, Jane! It’s like, a line for _sexy carnival costumes_!” she fumed that day, stabbing a tomato with such violence it deflated like a balloon, its juices pooling on the plate successfully contaminating her steak.

“Mh-mh,” nodded Jane, not even looking up from her notes.

“I don’t get it,” continued Darcy, “how come the guys get thousands of official clothing while the only girl gets the lingerie line? Huh? What are the fans supposed to do?”

“Maybe there’s no interest from the audience?”

Darcy snorted at that. She wasn’t admitting to anything, but there might be an unofficial Twitter account for Daily Avengers, and the numbers of Natasha stans (not counting the creeps) were in the six digits. _Six digits._

“I think they’re just assholes that see Natasha as the token eye candy and that’s it.”

“That could also be it,” Jane rolled with it, trying to fit another tiny scribbled note at the very bottom of the page. “I mean, Natasha’s breathtaking, I imagine it’s easy to get distracted by the appearance.”

Darcy glared at her. “What did you just mean by that?”

Jane’s head snapped up, probably sensing impending danger. “I didn’t mean it like that, Darcy. I just meant that most generic assholes have very limited blood flow, and it can only go up and down. We know Natasha, she’s coming over for drinks later, don’t glare at me! It’s not my fault humans are stupid.”

“Says the one boning the only alien in the Tower.”

Jane blushed. “Yes well, it’s not like you were interested so I had dibs.”

Darcy snorted. “Yeah, no. I wouldn’t want to step between true love and all that. Also, Thor’s my bro.”

“And you have eyes for somebody else,” Jane added knowingly.

“And I have eyes for so-Hey!”

They both chuckled at that. “Sorry,” Jane waved her hand, “that was too easy. But anyway, if you’re really that bothered by the lack of decent pyjamas or whatever, why don’t you just make your own? You’re really good at that, you could probably get it done faster than any stupid CEO behind a must desk could approve a good one from the Art department.”

Darcy, Jane wrangler and world future dominator extraordinaire, blinked. “Jane, you’re a genius!”

Her friend smiled. “I knew that already, but thank you.”

* * *

The actual process of making a pair of pyjamas, however, turned out to be maybe too ambitious. Just a tad.

Of course, making the easy pants and shirt was not that hard, as long as you could remember how to fold the fabric and sew it, possibly avoiding your hand. However, this was not a common PJs. This was going to be the Most Epic Black Widow clothing item in the universe, and Darcy had to deliver. Not because she was going to actually, like, take pictures or show off the thing, but because she wanted to prove to herself that she could actually pull it off.

And, also, a tiny part of her just wanted it to be perfect because Natasha was amazing and she deserved the best, even if she would know about it. She was going to make a big project out of a couple of petty thoughts? Yes, yes she was.

And thus, she got lost in the vast sea of fabric, wools, lining and how to make hoodies, and patterns and pockets and of course it had to have a big pocket as well, _and oh my God it just had to be accurate with Natasha’s style, and what was her favourite colour again_?

Two weeks later, Darcy was nowhere closer to ‘done’ than she had been at the beginning, and the idea didn’t seem so amazing anymore.

“Ugh, it’s too hard!” she tossed her measuring tape to the ground, whining. The tape rolled under the coffee table, the little sneak.

“What’s too hard, Darce?”

She jumped and whirled around. Sure enough, peeking from a vent that had to have been specifically created for his personal use, was Clint, grinning up at her. “What’s up?”

“Nothing!” yelped Darcy, trying to hide the black fabric. She knew it was probably too late, but she was determined to at least make an effort.

“Huh, sure,” he shrugged. “So it’s not your villain costume you’re sewing here.”

“Please,” she scoffed, “had I tried to take over the world by becoming a Villain, you’d be already calling me Mistress, right JARVIS?”

“Of course, Miss Lewis,” JARVIS dutifully replied.

“That’s true,” Clint admitted. “So, what’s this black and red- _wait, is that a hoodie_?” He seemed positively delighted at the idea.

Before Darcy could do nothing more than lean towards it, he’d already snatched the only complete part of the project, which was the panel of the back shirt and the hood. It wouldn’t have been a big deal, hadn’t the words ‘Black Widow’ been printed in big bold letters in the back. _Curse her idea to finish a panel and decorate it right away_.

“It’s not what it seems!” she hastened to say, watching Clint’s already gleeful face brighten up further, as if she’d told him it was Christmas already.

“Isn’t it?” he said teasingly, “because it looks to me that somebody is making themselves Black Widow clothes?”

“...Yeah okay, it’s exactly what it seems,” she pouted, “but like, don’t tell Natasha that, okay? Or, like, nobody else. I’m just making, or trying to make, a pair of PJs. Personal stuff, nobody will see it. No biggie!”

“Oookay,” he said slowly, “you lost me. Why wouldn’t you want to tell her if it’s not a big deal? And for that matter, why would you make it yourself? It seems awfully detailed for a PJs. I mean, the Black Widow symbol is accurate, like, you stared at it for hours accurate, and the font looks pretty elaborate.”

He pawed at the fabric, “oh boy, this is that expensive Italian Milan cotton thing, isn’t it?”

She snatched the panel from his fingers and carefully set it back on the coffee table. “Yes. And also, I’m making it myself because there’s no Black Widow merchandise around and I really wanted one, okay? Have you seen the stuff they make with Natasha’s face?”

He winced. “Yeah. And she has, as well. Natasha, I mean. Seen the new lingerie lines.”

Darcy winced with him. “How’d she take that?”

“Eh,” he grimaced. “She’s above that petty shit, of course, but it stopped being funny after the first two times.”

“I’d bet,” Darcy grumbled. “So yes, this is why I’m working on it, and no I don’t want her to know, thank you. She’ll think I’m more of a fan than she already thinks I am. And I’m doing it for purely spiteful reasons, okay? Just because I want to show everybody it can be done and be amazing.” “But you said you didn’t want to show anybody?” He said, confused. “...Is this because of the time you stared at her starry-eyed for so long you almost caught a fly in your mouth?”

“Dammit, Clint!”

* * *

In the end, it was a good thing she’d started back in July, because her pet project took her almost four months to complete, and while it was very impressive, November was already creeping in and it was cold as balls.

Darcy had never been familiar with New York cold, and while JARVIS was a saint in keeping the house warm, the chill that entered inside your bones whenever you went out of the Tower was all too real. So, as soon as the Dream PJs had been ready, she’d put them on without a second thought and luxuriated in the feel of having the one and only not creepy, humanly approved Black Widow merchandise.

Honestly, there was nothing better than sitting around your apartment in your comfy PJs while waiting for Jane to man up and exit the lab. Possibly within the next five hours.

She had _drinks_. And JARVIS was providing the movies so, really.

“Miss Lewis, Doctor Foster is at the door.”

“Finally!” she exclaimed, bouncing from the sofa to open the door. “Janey, it took you so long, come in, we have the Princess Bride queued u- Oh shit.”

Behind a wide-eyed, sheepish looking Jane, was Natasha.

“Hiii, Darcy,” started Jane, coughing, “Natasha wanted to watch it too, and you never say no so I thought it was okay?” Her eyes were clearly pleading mercy, but honestly, Darcy had no mercy to spare. She half hoped the Assemble alert would ring right now, or that the Tower could swallow her whole.

“...Of, of course, no problem,” she choked a bit, “come in, come in. We are just-Yeah, okay, we’ll. Yep, movies. Come on.”

* * *

It was. Unbearably awkward.

Natasha’s eyes were fixed on the movie the entire evening, never once straying towards her or Jane, and the atmosphere was so charged they didn’t speak. Almost at all.

It was just so weird, and there was no way it could be fixed without speaking. Or ending up filleted while trying to apologize. Maybe. Darcy reckoned she’d make for good sashimi, if not a very creepy one.

All over in the span of an evening. After this, there was no fucking way Natasha was spending any amount of time with them ever again. Or in the same room. Maybe she’d be asked to move?

Fuck, she couldn’t afford New York.

“I can hear you thinking, Darcy.”

Darcy jumped from the sofa. “I’m sorry!” she blurted.

Natasha’s eyebrows furrowed. “Why would you-”

“I’m so sorry,” she steamrolled, talking over her friend. “I just, I hated the entire Black Widow thing because shit, that’s just gross, but I really wanted a Black Widow Pyjamas, something like what the boys have! Thor has an entire line of onesies, and there’s nothing with your own brand and yes you’re a superspy blah blah blah but you’re also my favourite and you’re amazing and you deserve good and cute stuff that doesn’t come in sexy provocative carnival costume flavour. And so I made this and now it’s super awkward because I didn’t intend you to see it ever because it’s weird, right? The boys are one thing but your crush is another, right? You were never supposed to see that, by the way, I had Clint swear on Pizza dog he’d never tell you and of course, I blew it and-”

A hand landed on her shoulder, startling her.

“Did you get that out?” Natasha smiled faintly. “Because you shouted a lot.”

Darcy blushed beet red, but nodded.

“Good,” Natasha nodded back. “It’s cute. I like it. You even got the tiny Widow Bites right.”

“Thank you” she answered faintly.

“You’re welcome. Now, let’s go back to enjoying the movie, since Jane is glaring daggers at us. Then, later we’ll talk about your crush.”

And Darcy wanted to die a bit, because that was not in the plans, but Natasha winked, the movie continued and yeah, maybe she wasn’t getting kicked out today.

Throughout the rest of the Princess Bride, Natasha’s hand didn’t move from her arm for even a second.

**Author's Note:**

> There it is, the thing!  
> It's tiny and short, but I hope it was cute enough to showcase instead of hiding it forever. I could probably do that but it's too late...
> 
> Anyways!  
> Thank you so much for reading, I hope you liked it!  
>  **Please leave a comment, they're a writer's breath and bread.**
> 
> Much love!


End file.
